ICA Americas Newsletter Issue 5

The Editor’s Pen

p. 2

United Nations declared 2012 International Year of

Cooperatives p. 3

"Cooperative enterprise

empowers women”: UN Interna‐tional Day of Cooperatives, 3 July

2010 p. 3

Creating a regulatory environment

which enables cooperative businesses to flourish

p. 4

ICA‐Americas is offering exchange visits opportunities

for interested cooperators p. 5

Creating opportunities for immigrants and refugees

p. 6

ICA EXPO 2010 p. 8

Big moment for credit unions in the

US and Canada p. 10

Hard times,

time for worker co‐ops P.11

Issue Nº 5 // June 2010 ICA-Americas Newsletter

Inside

ICA-Americas Newsletter is an e-publication of the

International Cooperative Alliance for the Americas

[email protected] Phone: + (506) 2296 0981

Fax: + (506) 2231 5842 PO BOX: 6648 -1000 San José, Costa Rica

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

Interview with Yvonne Chiu, ‐Executive Director of the

Multicultural Health Brokers Co‐operative in Canada.

(page 6)

NOT FOR PROFIT, BUT FOR SERVICE

Big moment for credit unions in the US and Canada

UN DECLARED 2012 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF CO-OPERATIVES The resolution remarks the crucial role co‐operatives play in promoting the socio‐economic development of hun‐dreds of millions of people worldwide. (page 3)

ICA-AMERICAS IS OFFERING EXCHANGE VISITS OPPORTUNITIES ICA‐Americas Financial Co‐operatives Committee (COFIA) has developed an exchange visits program with co‐operatives from Mexico and Ecuador. (page 5)

ICA EXPO 2010: AN INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR FOR CO-OPERATIVES The second global trade fair for the coo‐perative movement will be held in Ban‐galore, India from 8 to 10 December, 2010 (page 8)

{ The Editor’s Pen }

Welcome to the latest issue of the ICA-Americas Newsletter!

Once you have read this Newsletter you will probably agree with us these are good times for cooperation. The declaration of 2011 International Year of Co-operatives is a significant achievement for the movement as it will bring about plenty of challenges and opportunities for cooperatives around the world.

Also it is a time of celebration for ICA-Americas in its 20th Anniversary work-ing along with the cooperative movement in the region. For the occasion we will have, on June 29, an International Conference about the cooperative movement “Strength of cooperation: cooperatives as a means to provoke so-ciocultural changes”. A cocktail will also be held in the evening, where the new premises of the Regional Office in San José, Costa Rica, will be officially inaugurated.

In this issue you will find the results of a recent report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) about the big moment for Credit Unions in that country and we also inform you on the impact the Move Your Money Movement has had. It is noticeable, how cooperatives are playing a key role in the path towards the recovery of the economy after the financial and social crisis.

This month we also take a detailed look at two activities carried out by ICA-Americas: Exchange Visits and the CLARITY Project.

In our section Co-op Case Studies we had the pleasure to interview Yvonne Chiu, founding member and Co-Executive Director of the Multicultural Health Brokers Co-operative in Edmonton, Alberta.

Once again readers will also find a follow-up of the main events that are tak-ing place, like the upcoming ICA Expo 2010, concerning a wide range of co-operative matters.

As usual we would welcome your comments on or contributions to the News-letter at [email protected].

Let’s continue spreading the world about the co-op difference!

Manuel Mariño ICA‐Americas

Regional Director

ICA-Americas Newsletter // Issue Nº 5 // June 2010 2


After successful lobbying by ICA and its members, the UN proclaimed 2012 as the United Nations Interna‐tional Year of Co‐operatives, highlighting one more time the crucial role cooperatives play in promoting the socio‐economic development of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, especially in times of economic crisis.

Through its resolution A/RES/64/136 the UN General As‐sembly calls Member States to promote the growth of coop‐eratives as business and social enterprises that can contrib‐ute to sustainable development, eradication of poverty, and livelihoods in various economic sectors in urban and rural areas and provide support for the creation of cooperatives in new and emerging areas. It also underlines cooperatives stimulates the fullest possible participation in the economic and social development of all people, including women, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities and indige‐nous peoples.

“The International Year of the Co‐operatives is a well timed event that represents the depth of understanding of the entire co‐operative movement,” said Pauline Green, ICA’s first‐ever woman president. “The co‐operative model is a better choice and offers the basis for a more sustainable way to do business when compared to traditional capitalist models now under scrutiny. What sets this model apart

from others is that all co‐operatives, whether they are small farmers or large consumer‐owned entities, share the values of democracy, solidarity, equality, self‐help and self respon‐sibility, creating businesses that serve the greater good as opposed to maximizing profit for the very few.”

To this end, the UN resolution encourages Governments to keep under review, as appropriate, the legal and adminis‐trative provisions governing the activities of cooperatives in order to enhance the growth and sustainability of coopera‐tives in a rapidly changing socio‐economic environment by providing a level playing field for cooperatives in relation to other business and social enterprises, including appropriate tax incentives and access to financial services and markets.

This declaration implies several challenges for the coopera‐tive movement to make the most of this opportunity to spread the word about the cooperative business model. A great effort should be made to raise public awareness of the contribution of cooperatives to generate employment and socio‐economic development. Also, a great effort should be made to promote comprehensive research and statistical data‐gathering on the activities, employment and overall socio‐economic impact of cooperatives at the national and international levels, and to encourage sound national policy formulation by harmonizing statistical methodologies.

You can download resolution A/RES/64/136 here.

UNITED NATIONS DECLARED 2012 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF COOPERATIVES

This year's theme highlights how the cooperative model of enterprise can successfully empower women. It links to the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing+15) which sets out an agenda for women's empowerment.

Cooperatives have a key role to play as they are able to respond to both women's practical and strategic needs. Whether it be through cooperatives made up only of women or of women and men, they offer an effective organizational means for women members and employees to raise their living standards by accessing decent work opportunities, savings and credit facilities, health, housing and social services, and education and training. Cooperatives also offer women opportunities for participation in and influ‐ence over economic activities. Women gain self‐reliance and self‐esteem through this participation. Co‐operatives also contribute to the improvement of the economic, social and cultural situation of women in other ways in‐cluding promoting equality and changing institutional biases.

The aim of the International Day of Cooperatives declared by the United Nations in 1995 is to increase awareness on coop‐eratives, highlight the complementarily of the goals and objectives of the United Nations and the international co‐operative movement and, underscore the contribution of the movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations. The International Day also aims to strengthen and extend partnerships between the international coopera‐tive movement and other actors, including governments, at local, national and international levels.

"COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE EMPOWERS WOMEN”

The Cooperative Law and Regulation Initiative (CLARITY)

was created in 2005 to support cooperative organiza‐

tions in order to promote changes in their legal and regulatory environments. Recently, ICA‐Americas has

been working on the elaboration of an Advocacy Strate‐

gic Plan as the final phase of the CLARITY III project in

Nicaragua to promote the reform of its Cooperative Law.

CLARITY and ICA‐Americas are also studying the possibil‐

ity of transferring this successful experience to other countries to encourage them to revise their cooperative

legal frameworks.

In the past, governments in many countries adopted coop‐

erative laws that instead of promoting cooperative develop‐

ment, impeded it. Such laws, for example, did not allow co‐

operatives to work in certain business areas. Over the past

half century, there have been significant changes but the

laws regulating cooperatives have been slow to change. As a

result, people have found it difficult to start cooperatives,

and existing ones have found their growth and opportunities

stunted.

There have been advocacy efforts made by the organized

cooperative movement to address this situation and to help

those working to change restrictive cooperative laws and

regulations, especially in developing countries. In the Ameri‐

cas, the approval of the Framework Law for the Coopera‐

tives in Latin America and the Mercosur Cooperative Statute

–both in 2009‐ evidences the important role of laws and

regulations in constituting a framework for cooperative busi‐

ness operations.

The CLARITY initiative was born in the United States five

years ago. It was created by the eight cooperative develop‐

ment organizations that are members of the U.S. Overseas

Cooperative Development Council (OCDC), with support

from the U.S. Agency for International Development

(USAID). The aim of the project is to formulate principles for,

and disseminate information about, legal and regulatory

enabling environments for cooperatives.

Building on the historical principles that have long motivated

the cooperative movement, CLARITY established nine princi‐

ples key to successful cooperative development: Democratic

member control; Autonomy & independence; Voluntary

membership; Member economic participation; Equitable

treatment of cooperatives; Access to markets; Coherent &

efficient regulatory framework; Due process; and Absence of

conflicts of interest. These principles emphasize the need to

promote cooperatives as autonomous private entities gov‐

erned by their members and free of state dominance.

Also, CLARITY has com‐

piled a wealth of resources

which is available at the

website http://

www.ocdc.coop/clarity. This website features an extensive

annotated bibliography of cooperative laws, regulations,

analytical documents and other information concerning co‐

operative development and links to research materials and

organizations engaged in promoting legal reforms for coop‐

eratives.

The work CLARITY is doing in Nicaragua is promoting the re‐

form of the Law 499 of Cooperatives. Its main objective in

this country is to strengthen the National Council of Nicara‐

guan Cooperatives (CONACOOP) as the organization which

represents cooperatives there. ICA‐Americas has been in‐

vited to actively participate in CLARITY III ‐ the third phase of

the project ‐ to help cooperatives in Nicaragua elaborate an

Advocacy Strategic Plan.

As part of CLARITY III, Alberto Mora, a profesional trainer

and project manager from ICA‐Americas, has been working

in Nicaragua to facilitate and lead both strategic planning

and advocacy training activities. He explained that ICA‐

Americas main role is to provide consultancy in those key

areas. “We have gained experience in these issues and have

developed a useful tool to elaborate Advocacy Strategies in

Public Policies”, Mora said. “We are working on a Strategic

Plan to promote the approval of a regulatory framework

better‐suited to the needs of the cooperative movement in

Nicaragua”.

The main problem CONACOOP faced was that, after being

created under the 2005 Cooperative Law, it was not given a

clear direction on its role, structure, financial resources or

how to effectively work on behalf of Nicaraguan coopera‐

tives. The Americas Association of Cooperative/Mutual In‐

surance Societies (AAC/MIS), the National Cooperative Busi‐

ness Association (NCBA) and the World Council of Credit Un‐

ions (WOCCU) undertook an initial assessment to under‐

stand nuances of the new regulatory environment and de‐

velop longterm advocacy goals.

After three years of hard work, reaching such goals seems

possible. So far, this experience has been an interesting op‐

portunity to explore, learn and document how effective co‐

operative advocacy groups are organized. Similar initiatives

are likely to take place in other countries, since the combina‐

tion of the CLARITY principles and the ICA‐Americas Advo‐

cacy Tools has proved to be an effective way of changing

outmoded legal systems which are real barriers to coopera‐

tive development in many parts of the world.

4 ICA-Americas Newsletter // Issue Nº 3 // September 2009

4 ICA-Americas Newsletter // Issue Nº 5 // June 2010 4

Outreach and advocacy

CREATING A REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT WHICH ENABLES COOPERATIVE BUSINESSES TO FLOURISH

ICA‐Americas Financial Cooperatives Committee (COFIA) has recently devel‐oped an exchange visits program with Credit Unions cooperatives from Mex‐ico and Ecuador. This initiative aimed at providing ICA‐Americas member organizations with new opportunities to learn deeply about the sector, ob‐tain updated information and know‐how, as well as gaining technical learn‐ing experience interacting in an en‐riched social and cultural environment. This first pilot‐experience is part of a strategic ICA‐Americas initiative and there is an intention to replicate ex‐periences like this one in other coun‐tries of the American region.

As part of the promotion of the coop‐erative principles, values and business model, ICA‐Americas embarks on work‐ing on exchange visits programs for co‐operators. The first experience took place in Guanajuato, Mexico, from May 31 to June 6. Partici‐pants had the chance to know the experience of the Fed‐eración de Cajas Populares Alianza and Caja Popular Mexi‐cana, both organizations of the Mexican Credit Union Sec‐tor. Participants also learnt about successful governance models, examples of Cooperative Social Responsibility, and promoted the interchange of experiences and knowledge among cooperative organizations.

Getting to know the Mexican experience was very interest‐ing to the participants who represented the Southern Coun‐cil of Credit Unions (UCACSUR) and the Northen Council of Cooperatives (UCACNOR).

“Mexico is an example of a deep and mature integration process. Cooperative leaders’ role in Mexico has been es‐sential to achieve such a level of cohesion ”, underlined Marianella Ramírez, responsible for ICA‐Americas’ Services and Products Development.

This exchange visits program was elaborated within the framework of the program “Strengthening of Local Credit Union Networks” developed by the Southern Council of Credit Unions (UCACSUR – Ecuador) with financial support by the Inter‐American Development Bank (IADB). The pro‐ject’s objective is to broaden and improve the quality of mi‐

crofinance services offered by credit unions in certain areas and cities of Ecuador by strengthening local networks.

The development of this ICA‐Americas’ exchange visits pro‐gram is part of a more global strategy and the Alliance is willing to promote this kind of experiences mainly in the ar‐eas of youth and gender, as well as in the financial and in‐surance sector. “There is great scope for this program to be increased, including new locations and cooperative sectors to explore. In this kind of experiences all are winners. The visitors obviously gain unmatched experience by seeing how the cooperative movement works, and the hosts have also a unique opportunity to learn from visitors”, said Marianella Ramírez.

As the regional organization of the Americas, we aim to de‐velop exchange visits programs between Latin American co‐operatives and cooperatives in the USA and Canada. An ex‐perience of this kind has already taken place in Brazil, and the exchange North and South has proved to be very posi‐tive.

If you would like to discuss the possibility of being involved in the ICA‐Americas’s Exchange visits Program please con‐tact Marianella Ramírez at: aciproduc‐[email protected] .

ICA‐AMERICAS IS OFFERING EXCHANGE VISITS OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERESTED COOPERATORS

Promoting interchange and cooperation


The Multicultural Health Brokers Co‐operative (MCHB Coop) is a workers’ co‐op made up of immigrant com‐munity workers that support immigrants and refugees through health education, community development and advocacy. The co‐op offers various services to newcomers in many languages and at no cost.

Created in 1996 by 12 immigrant women who became involved in culturally responsive peri‐natal health out‐reach and community development in immigrant com‐munities (part of a pilot project of the Public Health Department) the MCHB Coop was formally registered with the Alberta Government under the Cooperative Act on November 30, 1998.

“The MCHB Coop has been established to address the social, economic and political inequities that negatively impact the health and well‐being of immigrants and refugees. It seeks to provide culturally and linguistically relevant information and support that enhances family

health and well‐being, bridge and mediate between immigrant/refugee families and mainstream system, build community capacities for health and well‐being, and affect incremental change within systems towards equity and cul‐tural responsiveness,” Yvonne Chiu explained to ICA‐Americas News‐letter.

The uniqueness of MCHB Coop is that it was created to serve culturally diverse com‐munities such as Af‐ghan, Arabic‐speaking, Chinese, Ethiopian, Eri‐trean, Filipino, Former

CREATING CREATING OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMMIGRANTS FOR IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES AND REFUGEES

Multicultural Health Brokers CoMulticultural Health Brokers Co‐‐operativeoperative


Have you ever had to settle in a new country, learn a completely new language, adapt to an un‐known environment and get familiarized with the culture around you in order to fit in? If you pic‐ture yourself in such a situation you may probably experience a kind of isolation and vulnerability. Without knowing what to expect and faced to a barrier due to the inability to communicate, getting information about the system becomes essential. However, what people need ‐above all‐ is support. “The kind of support that comes from the hurt”, says Yvonne Chiu, founding member and Co‐Executive Director of the Multicultural Health Brokers Co‐operative in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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Yugoslavian, French‐speaking African, Kurdish, Karen, Korean, Iraqi, Iranian, South Asian, Somali, Sudanese, Span‐ish, and Vietnamese. The worker‐members of the MCHB Coop are im‐migrant and refugee workers who are also members of the communities that they serve. They are front‐line service deliverers, community devel‐opers as well as joint owners and op‐erators of the Coop. Many of the members of the MCHB Coop are highly educated and skilled profes‐sionals whose credentials are not rec‐ognized in Canada, and/or trusted natural leaders with extensive net‐works and skills in community devel‐opment within their respective com‐munities.

One of the things Yvonne Chiu finds most inspiring about her work is “the dedication and commitment of the co‐op members‐workers towards social change, their caring devotion towards the immigrant and refu‐gee families that they serve, their capacities to dream and pursue such dreams in spheres of affecting sys‐temic changes and community activism.”

Regarding the challenges ahead, Chiu emphasizes that the formal system still does not recognize the unique needs and strengths of immigrants and refugee com‐munities. “In the absence of relevant policies and fund‐ing formula to address the social and economic inequi‐ties of immigrant/refugee populations, the MCHB Coop

struggles with shouldering the care of a multitude of families without resources or funding support.“

As a member of the Co‐op, Chiu has spent the past decade exploring a variety of participatory processes to engage immigrants/refugees in making visible their struggles and aspirations for the purpose of commu‐nity actions and social change. Pursuing its mission the co‐op members are building relationships that remove the “us versus them” mentalities between communi‐ties and service providers. That’s the path the co‐op will continue following.

If you want further information about the MCHB Co‐op please contact Yvonne Chiu and other members of the


The MCHB Coop:

currently provides employment for 40 workers/brokers

has an annual budget that grew from $ 200,000 to $ 2 million.

has collaborative relationship and contracts with or receive funding from 4 essential sectors (health, children

services, education and employment).

connects with and serves 1,500 families each year, involving roughly 7,000 individuals (children, youth, parents

& grand‐parents).

formally established the Multicultural Health Brokering practice ‐ a practice that addresses social/economic

inequity and builds immigrant/refugee communities capacities. This practice has been replicated in 3 other

Canadian cities.

has received numerous awards of excellence from multiple sectors: social work, health promotion, community

economic development and children services.

GREATEST SUCCESSES OF THE CO‐OPERATIVE

Asia has been strategically chosen to host the second edi‐tion of ICA Expo 2010, which will be held at The Bangalore Trade Centre in India, one of the largest emerging markets of the region both in the cooperative sector and consumer market of products and services.

ICA Expo 2010 will open up new markets to the cooperative sector and provide cooperatives with the opportunity to do significant business. ICA Expo 2010 aims creating significant business gains during the trade fair. Visionary cooperatives will benefit from participating in this unique event for the sector.

ICA EXPO is a landmark in the efforts to promote coopera‐tive business as well as to create a greater visibility for coop‐eratives with main focus on food, beverage and products. The fair provides participants with the strengthening of the cooperative image and brings about business opportunities and commercial benefits. Aimed at gathering the world's most renowned cooperatives in a single space, the move‐

ment's main trade fair encourages the sector’s exports and imports by attracting a highly qualified public interested in their products.

To assure business for each and every exhibitor, ICA EXPO will select and bring worldwide professionals with a high buying and decision power to network and buy from coop‐eratives during the event. They will attend daily pre‐scheduled meetings with a wide range of producers, indus‐tries and service cooperatives in order to persuade their business objectives. The buyers' participating costs, which include air tickets and accommodation in Bangalore will be entirely covered by ICA EXPO. Besides, business meetings will be organized between exhibitors and buyers.

A number of workshops will also take place, to provide a wealth of additional networking experiences. This is a valu‐able opportunity for exhibitors to talk about their products and services and present their institutional characteristics to clients, saving time and focusing on business.

ICA EXPO 2010: AN INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR FOR THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT


The ICA Expo will be held in Bangalore, India from 8‐10 December. The second global fair for the coopera‐tive movement will provide co‐ops which participate as exhibitors in the event with a unique opportunity to develop their business in the emerging Asian market. ICA Expo 2010 is the official trade fair of the Interna‐tional Co‐operative Alliance with the aim to assure business opportunities for all participants. “We are ex‐pecting the presence of more than 15.000 visitors, 1.500 specialized buyers and 200 hosted buyers” affirms Luiz Branco, President of the event.

ICA‐Americas invites cooperatives in the Americas to take part in this professional fair to promote cooperative prod‐ucts and services.

The exhibitors can be:

ICA members organisations

Worldwide cooperatives including:

Agricultural cooperatives

Producer cooperatives

Financial and insurance cooperatives

Service cooperatives (workers, health, energy, among others)

Organizations which give support to cooperatives

Government entities and offices which support coopera‐tives

Suppliers of goods and services to cooperatives

If you want to participate in ICA Expo or need further infor‐mation about this trade fair please contact Marianella Ramírez at: [email protected].

You can also downlowad the ICA Expo brochure from: www.icaexpo.coop

CITADELLE, THE CANADIAN MAPLE SYRUP PRODUCERS CO‐OPERATIVE, WILL BE PRESENT IN ICA EXPO 2010

Citadelle represents more than one third of the maple pro‐ducers in the province of Quebec in Canada, collecting, proc‐essing and marketing a wide variety of maple products. It has been in business since 1925 and they sell in over 35 countries around the world. This is the first time the coop‐erative participates in ICA Expo where it will present its products to potential new distributors around the world as well as its 100% Coop logo, available exclusively to co‐operatives. The 100% Coop Label represents caring for both product quality and the environment.

Jerry Kless, Sales & Marketing Director of Citadelle, de‐scribes ICA Expo as an opportunity. “We have found that there is an opportunity to meet and inform other coopera‐tives, that we process 100% pure maple syrup products by participating in ICA Expo. We have just recently been made

aware of this exposition through my recent business trip to ICA‐Americas Regional Office in Costa Rica. We can all mutu‐ally benefit from our experiences around the world as coop‐eratives. We also hope to expand our business in both exist‐ing and new markets through this exposition”.

Kless believes this kind of event helps raise awareness on the cooperative advantage. “We feel that many potential customers are not aware that our product is produced by a cooperative and that we can also offer food retail coopera‐tives the opportunity to offer their own customers a prod‐uct which is 100% Coop, by including a special sticker on our bottles which indicates `100%Coop`. We are, therefore, an example and ambassadors for the benefits of the coopera‐tive system to loyal members of cooperatives around the world”.


“ICA EXPO 2010 will be a great incentive for us

to work together and promote the cooperative

movement. Therefore, we encourage coopera‐

tives and their organizations to participate in

this trade fair, as we believe it will draw atten‐

tion to the quality of our products and services

and will show the level of organization of the

cooperative movement and its capacity to

partner with other enterprises.”

Ian Macdonald, ICA Director General

GOOD REASONS TO SHOWCASE YOUR PRODUCTS IN ICA EXPOCOOP 2010

80% of the visitors have a purchase decision‐making power

71% of the visitors share information with 1 to 6 per‐sons

52% of the prospective customers require no subse‐quent visits to close a deal

For 91%, participation is a key factor to making a de‐cision

For 85% of the companies, the fair provides reduced selling costs

Your cooperative or company return is 3 times the investment on average

According to a recent report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) small businesses are more satisfied with the services they receive from credit unions than they are with banks, and as a result credit unions and caisses populaires dominate in serving that economy sec‐tor. The survey asked more than 12,000 small and medium‐sized enterprises to rate their level of satisfaction with services received from their financial institution. The sur‐vey dealt with three factors: financing, fees and service.

The report showed that small businesses (5‐49 employees) gave credit unions an overall rating of 8 out of 10, com‐pared to 7.5 out of 10 for the highest‐rated bank, HSBC. Micro‐businesses, which have less than five employees, gave credit unions a 7.5 rating, com‐pared to 5.5 for the highest‐rated bank, Scotiabank.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business places a great importance on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector to lead Canada on a path to healthy eco‐nomic recovery. “Canada’s SME sector must not be hin‐dered in their ability to focus on jobs and growth. Access to affordable financing and banking services is therefore es‐sential if SMEs are to play their part in growing the econ‐omy and creating new jobs” says the report.

You can download the full report at: http://www.cfib‐fcei.ca/cfib‐documents/rr3111.pdf .

Move Your Money campaign

The Move Your Money campaign is catching all over the United States, encouraging people to take their banking business to community banks and credit unions, rather than patronize the “too‐big‐to‐fail” banks.

A recent report released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from the first fiscal quarter of 2010 shows how much of an impact this movement has had in

getting Americans to move their money. Using an esti‐mated average value of $2,500 per account, a $5 billion net shift from the big banks to community‐based banks and credit unions, indicates as many as 2,000,000 people did something tangible between New Year's Eve and April Fools Day.

Dennis Santiago, CEO of Institutional Risk Analytics (IRA), and promoter of the campaign, expressed his satisfaction at how people responded to this idea. “Five billion dollars! An estimated two million accounts! And that’s only been in the first three months! This is still a young movement, and we can only get bigger”, Santiago said.

“What began as a conversation among friends over a din‐ner before Christmas has rapidly turned into a national grassroots movement. So far it’s generated hundreds of stories, millions of website visits, and thousands of individ‐ual actions” he added.

You can find more information about this project at http://www.moveyourmoney.info.

BIG MOMENT FOR CREDIT UNIONS IN THE US AND CANADA


"Not for profit, but for service." The credit union motto resonates more loudly than ever before. People have been going through difficult times after the financial crisis but credit unions have not turned their backs to them. This may be the reason why small businesses in Canada are reported to be more satisfied with credit unions than they are with banks, and the Move Your Money campaign in the United States has moved ‐in only three months‐ five bil‐lion dollars from the “too‐big‐to‐fail” banks to credit unions and small community‐based banks.


In hard times like these, the co‐op model makes sense. Mass anxiety is accelerated and public confi‐dence in corporations is at its lowest level ever. The current economic crisis increased the search for viable solutions to economic hardships thus, people are look‐ing for other ways to do business and save money. In this context, co‐operatives have become a sign of re‐sistance and hope.

The California Center for Cooperative Development organized its 2nd Annual Conference on 9 ‐10 April at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. It focused on “job creation and building com‐munity‐based economies to strengthen communities, create wealth, and transform lives.” The projects presented included a variety of successful stories in the field of worker co‐operatives.

The keynote speaker of the event was Jim Anderson of the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland. Anderson kicked‐off the conference with the inspiring story of how the Evergreen Co‐operatives grew to support the poverty‐stricken areas of Cleveland through job creation, worker empowerment, and finding creative funding sources.

An opinion article in the “The Christian Science Monitor” ad‐vocates worker ownership as an approach to economic stimu‐lus: "In hard times like these, the co‐op model makes sense. After all, public confidence in corporations, banks, and the larger financial system is at low ebb, while unemployment is at its highest level in 25 years. Homeownership, historically a reliable way to build equity, has been rocked by foreclosures. People are looking for other ways to do business and save money."

The Steelworkers Union, North America’s largest industrial union, has signed an agreement with Spain's Mondragón Co‐operative Corporation, to help workers in the US gain an own‐ership stake in their workplace. Added to the news that the United Steel Workers are planning to create cooperatives so that union members actually own their jobs and not just rent them, Michael Moore sent a valentine to the co‐op move‐ment in his latest film, “Capitalism: A Love Story”. As a form of economic democracy, he said in an interview, co‐ops are “the patriotic thing to do.” In the film, the Northern California worker cooperative is highlighted as an industrial bakery with good wages and benefits far surpassing the industry norm.

It was mass unemployment and widespread poverty in Spain’s Basque region that spurred the creation of the Mondragon co‐op in the 1950s. Today it’s the region’s eco‐nomic engine, with more than 100,000 workers. The key fac‐tor is that, in order to obtain long‐term success, economic development has to take place from the ground up.

“The social change process cannot be a top‐down, outside‐in affair, but must be exactly the opposite. When it moves into the arena of economic development, the work of democratic planning and community involvement, the strong points of social justice activism, changes lives in meaningful ways”, wrote Bernard Marszalek in his recent article “Worker Coop‐eratives – a Viable Economic Alternative?”.

As a strategic approach to creating jobs and building assets for working families, expanding the co‐op model seems an alternative that is gaining place. As Marszalek describes, co‐operatives are on the agenda of diverse sectors of the econ‐omy. “Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC‐United) is opening organizing centers across the country. In Chicago, they are planning a cooperative restaurant based on their successful Colors Restaurant in New York City. In Detroit, community groups and union organizers are discussing the formation of a worker cooperative food store to serve the inner city.”

These developments are significant in themselves, but they become all the more important when they ally with related movements. “Couple this endeavor with credit unions, hous‐ing co‐ops, land trusts and eco‐friendly businesses and what we have begins to look like a movement for real change”, states Marszalek.

A model based on human values rather than the uncontrolled pursuit of profit is just what we need to create jobs and re‐build the economy. Bernard Marszalek clearly illustrates this point. ”While Wall Street spins dreams of financial bliss, the nightmare they brought to Main Street may be lifting to re‐veal a brighter vision. An alternative, grassroots economy may be on the horizon that will create a quality of life to ad‐dress the needs of people, not corporations.”

Alternatives to job creation

HARD TIMES, TIME FOR WORKER CO-OPS

ICA-Americas Newsletter // Issue Nº 3 // September 2009 An e-publication of International Cooperative Alliance for the Americas (ICA Americas) ICA is an independent, non-governmental association which unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide Editor: Manuel Mariño // Realization team: Natalia Acerenza, Virginia Pérez Auza and Jorge Cabrera (jcse) © ICA Americas // Contents can be reproduced without authorization on condition that the source is indicated

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ICA-Americas Newsletter // Issue Nº 5 // June 2010 An e-publication of International Cooperative Alliance for the Americas (ICA Americas) ICA is an independent, non-governmental association which unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide Editor: Manuel Mariño // Realization team: Natalia Acerenza, Virginia Pérez Auza and Jorge Cabrera (jcse) © ICA Americas // Contents can be reproduced without authorization on condition that the source is indicated

SHORT ica NEWS

ICA Haiti Co‐operative Reconstruction Fund: Given the extent of the damage provoked by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake and numerous after shocks, ICA made an appeal to members to contribute to finance longer‐term co‐operative reconstruction efforts. To date, the ICA has received more than USD 500,000 from cooperatives around the world and will discuss with its partners how the money can best be used to supplement the recon‐struction assistance. The list of donating partners can be found on the ICA website: www.ica.coop/activities/haiti. ICA leads action on International Accounting Standards: Crisis talks to avert serious negative impacts on co‐operatives from changes to international accounting standards, were held in London on 11 February, between the ICA and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Discussion centered on changes to Interna‐tional Accounting Standard 32, where cooperative shares could be reclassified as debt rather than equity. IASB’s Chairman asked the ICA to continue to make representations on behalf of co‐operatives, where IASB projects under discussion, threatened co‐operative forms. Last but not least, the ICA has been invited to be a member of the Standards Advisory Council (SAG) which meets quarterly to discuss issues that should be put on the IASB agenda. Etienne Pflimlin from Crédit Mutuel (France) and Felice Scalvini from Confcooperative (Italy) were elected co‐Presidents for the term 2010‐2014 at the rescheduled Cooperatives Europe Regional Assembly in Brussels on 31 May. Board members were also elected from France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, UK, Finland, Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark, Czech Republic and Russia. ICA Asia‐Pacific celebrates 50 years: 2010 marks the 50 year anniversary of ICA’s New Delhi, India, office. It was opened on 14 November 1960 by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. The anniver‐sary will be celebrated at the opening of the 9th Regional Assembly of ICA Asia‐Pacific in Beijing China, 1‐5 September. Climate change and International Year of Cooperatives will be the focus the 9th ICA Africa Regional Assembly to be held in Maseru, Lesotho from 11‐15 October 2010. The Assembly will be preceded by a meeting of the African Ministerial Conference Technical Committee (MCTC) which is preparing the 10th African Ministerial Conference to be held in Rwanda in 2012. ICA continues to increase its membership. Currently, ICA has 243 member organizations from 91 countries, representing more than 800 million individuals worldwide.

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ICA Americas Newsletter Issue 5

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